HRC Blog

Earlier today, the White House updated the Presidential delegation to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. The updated delegation will now include openly gay ice hockey Olympic silver and bronze medalist Caitlin Cahow.

Cahow, originally scheduled as a member of the closing ceremonies for the United States, will take the place of Billie Jean King, who will not be able to attend due to family illness, citing the deteriorating conditions of her mother. King applauded her original inclusion in the delegation and sends her support to current athletes, stating, “I want to thank President Obama for including me in this historic mission and I look forward to supporting our athletes as they compete in Sochi."

Cahow will be joined by Janet Napolitano, former US Secretary of Homeland Security, Michael McFaul, current US Ambassador to Russia, Robert Nabors, Deputy Chief of Staff to the Obama Administration, and fellow Olympic athlete, Brian Boitano, who recently came out after shortly after being named to the delegation.

While HRC laments the inability of Ms. King to travel to Sochi, we continue to applaud the actions of President Obama in presenting a historic delegation to the Olympics in Russia and sending a strong message against the continued human rights violations confronting LGBT Russians and allies in Sochi and throughout the country.

For more information about HRC’s work in Russia and to stand in solidarity with the #LoveConquersHate campaign, visit www.hrc.org/Russia.